Chapter 24: Chapte 24
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Krishna walked down the hallway in anger, there was two more hours left for the ceremony to start, but she couldn’t stop brooding over how rude Sayyam had been to her. She walked into the Kitchen, noticing that Tiger’s food bowl was on the counter. She picked it up angrily and stormed all the way to the outhouse, placing it down on the floor. “This Khadoos man even forgot to give food to his dog,” she frowned, walking back to the house and into her room to get prepared for the function.
——
After the ceremony was over, Sayyam strolled into the outhouse, his hands in his pockets. “Tiger!” he called out, waiting for a response. He had sat patiently throughout the haldi ceremony the whole time, as all the elders applied haldi on Yuvaan and Krishna, smiling when Suhani had dabbed a little extra on Yuvaan’s nose.
Of course though, something just had to happen during the function; while Yuvani was walking somewhere with the bowl of haldi before the ceremony started, he’d run into her and some of its contents had gotten on his skin and his sleeve. Yuvani, being her usual self, had made fun of him and taken a quick photo, running away afterward. He’d merely shaken his head in amusement, ‘some things would never change.’
Sayyam looked up, wondering why Tiger was not responding. Suddenly feeling uneasy, he walked throughout the house, finally spotting Tiger lying down next to the food bowl. ‘Tiger never slept during the day,’ Sayyam frowned, bending down to pet the dog, when he felt a sharp smell hit his nose. ‘Cocoa!’ Sayyam thought, alarmed. He picked up the food bowl, confirming his doubts: Tiger had eaten chocolate.
Sayyam tried to gently shake the dog awake, but to no avail; Tiger’s breathing was shallow and weak. Sayyam panicked, picking the dog up and rushed towards his car, determined not to let anything happen to his best friend.
——
“Krishna, where is the bowl of chocolates I had placed on the counter?” Yuvaan asked Krishna, as she dried her hair that evening.
“Which bowl Yuvaan?” Krishna turned to him innocently.
“The blue bowl Krishna; it had chocolates in it…never mind…maybe you didn’t see” he walked out. Krishna froze, remembering the blue bowl she’d taken from the counter and placed in the outhouse. She started to rush towards the main door, worried that something had happened, when Sayyam pushed the door open angrily, entering the house.
“Who put chocolates in Tiger’s bowl!” he yelled, enraged.
Suhani and Yuvraaj rushed into the living room, wondering why Sayyam was so angry. Krishna stepped forward timidly, “Sayyam I-” she tried to explain, but Sayyam stepped forward and held her wrist tightly.
“What is your problem, huh? I know I acted rude in the morning, but that does not mean you were allowed to take out your anger out on Tiger. If you had a problem with me, then why didn’t you confront me?” Sayyam was furious by now, “You could have hurt me, yelled at me, poisoned me, but why did you hurt Tiger!”
Krishna pulled her hand out of his grasp, “Sayyam, it was a mistake, I didn’t mean to-”
“Mistake my foot, Krishna. I know very well that you did all this to take revenge on me!”
“Sayyam!” a voice echoed throughout the hall, “look at yourself first before trying to find faults in others,” Yuvaan stepped in between Sayyam and Krishna.
“Yuvaan,” Sayyam tried to calm himself, “this matter is between Krishna and me; don’t try to interfere.”
“Krishna is my fiancé Sayyam! I blo*dy do have the right to interfere.” Yuvaan stepped forward and punched Sayyam. Suhani’s mouth fell open in shock, watching her children fight. There was a pin drop silence, and everyone held their breaths. Sayyam held Yuvaan’s collar, punching him back.
Suhani was about to intervene, when she and Yuvraaj got an even bigger shock. Krishna stormed forward, releasing Sayyam’s hands from Yuvaan’s collar and slapped him, the sound echoing throughout the room.
“How dare you,” she was breathing heavily, “How dare you raise your hand on Yuvaan? I kept quiet when you insulted me, because I was the one who had placed the bowl there; it was an accident. Are you listening? It was an accident! But no one gave you the right to hit Yuvaan, he is your elder brother. Apologize. Now.” The whole room waited for Sayyam’s reaction.
“I won’t say sorry for a mistake which isn’t mine,” Sayyam’s face was emotionless, his expressions unreadable.
“You know what Sayyam?” Krishna shouted, sick and tired of this ‘tug of war’ going on between her and Sayyam. One day he would be nice to her, and the next day, he would treat her like she was worth nothing. “It is your fault. It has always been your fault.” She let go of all the anger pent up inside her, “You have your father’s blood running inside you, so we all expected this. Learn to accept the truth Sayyam; you are just like your dad. You hurt everyone and give them nothing but pain.” she snapped, running to her room and slamming the door, while Sayyam, without a word, stalked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.
———
Sayyam sat in the outhouse; his hands were shaking in anger after everything that had just happened. He stood up abruptly and paced over to the wrestling bag in his room, starting to hit it repeatedly, when there was a hesitant knock at the door. Sayyam paused, standing quietly for a moment.
“Sayyam beta?” Suhani’s voice filtered through the door. Thunder echoed in the distance, as grey storm clouds rolled in. Sayyam stood motionless, unsure of what to do.
“Sayyam beta, please open the door; talk to me…” Suhani pleaded, and he could hear the pain in her voice, but he refused to open the door. The closer he got to his mother, the more he always hurt her. He forced his hands into his pockets and waited- waited for the sound of her slow, labored breaths to fade away.
“Sayyam?” she tried one last time, sighing in defeat.
Sayyam turned his head away from the door in guilt; this was the last time he would hurt anybody; this was the last time he would hurt himself, he decided. It was about time that he stopped listening to his heart and started using his brain, like he always had. Feelings made him weak; it made things complicated. Feelings could hurt people. So, as lightning flashed outside, and rain started pouring from the thick grey clouds, Sayyam made himself a promise that, from now on, he would stop feeling.
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Hey guys! I posted a chapter that was a bit longer this time. I literally just got back, and decided to fulfill my promise to you guys. So, from here on out, it’s gonna be rough waters between Krishna and Sayyam; lot of twists coming up, I hope I’m not too predictable 😉
Love you all!
– Shreya <3